AVE MARIA, Fla. — Ave Maria swept its fourth doubleheader of the season Monday, beating the Northwestern Red Raiders 5-2 in game one and 4-1 in game two. The Gyrenes got two really good starts from their starters, and rode those performances to victories.
Luke Zmolik got the call in game one, making his second start of the season. The junior transfer from Butler pitched another gem for the Gyrenes, tossing five scoreless innings. Zmolik didn't allow a hit in the first four innings, and the only blemish was a reach on an error in the top of the first. Northwestern got two hits in the fifth inning to break up the no-hitter, but still couldn't put up any runs against Zmolik. That is now 10 straight innings for Zmolik over his two starts without allowing a run.
On the flip side, the Gyrenes started scoring right away. Cole Rasbury drove in the first run in the opening frame, hitting an RBI double that scored Franco Barbieri.
In the second inning, Barbieri got the RBI, hitting a sacrifice fly to bring home Tanner Kelly.
The scoring continued for a third inning in a row, this time getting two runs. David Leonardi brought home the first run with an RBI single that scored Rasbury. A few at bats later, an RBI groundout with the bases loaded from Michael Kelly put the Gyrenes on top 4-0.
Ave Maria scored their fifth and final run in the sixth inning with a fielding error from the Northwestern shortstop allowing Tanner Kelly to get on base safely and Connor James scoring from third.
Ryan Schroeder pitched the sixth inning for the Gyrenes and got two big strikeouts at the end of the inning, leaving two men on base.
In the top of the seventh, Northwestern found a little bit of offense, bringing home two runs and then loading the bases, putting the tying run at first and the go ahead run at the plate with two outs. Ave Maria reached into the bullpen and pulled out Blake Albritton, who got the Red Raiders' batter to ground into a fielder's choice, securing the win.
Zmolik got his first win of the season, finishing the game with five innings pitched, no runs off two hits and four strikeouts. Albritton got the first save of the season for the Gyrenes.
Game two started a little differently than game one, with Northwestern striking first this time scoring a run in the opening frame off a balk with runners on the corners.
The lead didn't last long though as the Gyrenes tied it up in the bottom of the third with a wild pitch bringing home Tanner Kelly.
The game stayed tied at one for a few more innings before the Gyrenes got some separation in the bottom of the sixth. With two runners on, Kyle Kuramoto laid down a bunt down the third base line to move the runners into scoring position. However, the Northwestern pitcher overthrew first base when field the bunt, allowing Leonardi and Brian Williams to score and Kuramoto to end up on third. Kuramoto crossed home plate a few at bats later with Tanner Kelly singling up the middle to make the score 4-1.
Outside of the first inning, Cam Horner pitched a beauty. The junior from Madeira Beach, Florida, pitched a complete game, tossing all seven innings of the shortened doubleheader game. It was the first seven-inning complete game for the Gyrenes in over a year, when Horner accomplished the same feat March 8, 2023, against the Dordt Defenders. Of the seven innings, five were hitless for the Red Raiders, including the final inning that secured the win. Horner finished with a stat line of seven innings pitched, one run off three hits and five strikeouts.
With the two wins, Ave Maria improves to 10-8 on the season. The Gyrenes are on the road this weekend for their second conference series, traveling across Alligator Alley to take on the St. Thomas Bobcats. St. Thomas received votes in the preseason poll, but missed out on the Top 25. STU has had a disappointing start to 2024, going 9-14. Most recently, they went 2-6 in the RussMatt Invitational. All conference series will be four games. Game one is Thursday, March 14, with first pitch set for 6 p.m. Then the two teams will play a doubleheader on Friday and close out the series on Saturday.
